Light Keeps Me Company

Sven Nykvist is one of the most respected cinematographers in the history of world cinema. Among his 123 film credits, Nykvist is known primarily as the man who photographed many of Ingmar Bergman's stark Swedish film classics including PERSONA and WINTER LIGHT. Nykvist's Bergman films demonstrated a style based more in naturalistic lighting than the slick standard that was heavily influenced by Hollywood. His "pencil sketch" approached allowed not only for the realism defined by the lighting, but also framed characters with the distance required for Bergman's deep psychological portraits. Nykvist would go on to shoot films of that are among the most visually complex, subtle, and beautiful with many of the world's first rate directors including PRETTY BABY (Louis Malle), THE SACRIFICE (Andrei Tarkovsky), THE TENANT (Roman Polanski), and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (Woody Allen). He also branched out into directing with a work of stunning visuals, THE OX. This portrait of the cinematographer and his images is a labor of love, directed by his son Carl-Gustav Nykvist, who has followed in his father's footsteps. Many of Nykvist's collaborators are interviewed, including Polanski, Allen, Susan Sarandon, Liv Ullman, and Gena Rowlands.